Supergirl's First Punishment
by FantasticFicLad
Summary: Takes place after SupermanBatman 13. When Supergirl disobeys Superman and puts herself in danger, Clark is forced to teach the young girl a hard lesson about life on Earth. Contains a spanking scene, don't read if this offends you.


Author's notes: This fanfiction takes place after the last issue of "Superman/Batman" where Superman's teenage cousin, Kara Zor-El, arrives from the destroyed Krypton and takes up the mantle of Supergirl. This fic may not reflect canon, simply because I don't know what canon is. DC has left what comes next for Supergirl up in the air, and I'm here to fill in the blanks as best as I can. Be warned, this story contains spanking in later chapters. You've all been warned, but somehow, I doubt I'll have much trouble out of this group LOL. This is my first attempt at formal fanfiction, so be gentle. That being said, I hope everyone enjoys! All characters involved are the property of DC comics, I'm just borrowing them for this. ;)

SUPERGIRL'S FIRST PUNISHMENT:

written by milleniumrex

The last son of Krypton could already tell that this was going to be an interesting day.

After a particularly bruising battle against Brainiac the night before, Clark Kent aka Superman was looking forward to sleeping in that morning, but it apparently wasn't to be, as the sound of teenagers fighting reverberated through the house.

"Kon, give that back!"

"It's MY MP3 player, Kara! You've just been hogging it ever since you got here!"

Clark rubbed the sleep out of his eyes(marvelling at the fact that raising two teenagers could apparently even make a Superman exhausted) and headed downstairs, quietly hoping that the kitchen of the Kent farmhouse wasn't being destroyed. Thinking back on the last few months, he reflected on just how much he owed his parents, Jonathan and Martha Kent. They had already been through the super-powered teenager job once before, and they hadn't even batted an eyelash when he asked them to take in his teenage clone Kon-El. Of course, life had a way of throwing curve balls, and just a few months later, he had discovered that he wasn't the last surviving Kryptonian after all, with the arrival of his cousin, Kara Zor-El, on Earth. In the insanity that followed, including an aborted attempt by the alien conquerer Darkseid to claim Kara for his own, Clark barely had time to reflect on the fact that his family was growing, and he would have to make some changes to be able to spend time with them. His parents immediately offered to take in Kara as well, but the thought of his aging parents raising two superpowered teens seemed like too much of an imposition. But when his wife, Lois Lane, was offered a high-paying position as a foreign correspondent in Europe, the answer presented itself, and Clark had no regrets about his decision to move back to Smallville, at least temporarily. Much as he loved Metropolis, he always sort of missed the small town where he grew up, and he knew his parents were happy to have the help on the farm. Chores became a lot easier when you could do them at Mach 3. And Kara and Kon were getting the best of both worlds:Two experienced parents who knew a little about raising kids to use their powers responsibly and a stable civilian life as Connor and Kara Kent, and a blood relative who could help them with their own heroic ambitions. And of course, Clark could fly back to Metropolis at the first sign of trouble and save the day. All in all, it was a good situation.

That is, assuming that he could keep Kon and Kara from getting into another fight. The last time, the cows were spooked for a week.

Fortunately, the situation had resolved itself by the time he arrived downstairs. Martha Kent, the instigating MP3 player firmly in hand, was lecturing the muscular 16 year old and the pretty blond 14 year old as she cooked breakfast.

"...And both of you should be ashamed of yourselves! It's just a music player! Definitely nothing worth getting into a fight over! You two are siblings, and you should act like it!"

"Actually, I think we are."

"Don't you get smart with me, Connor Kent! You know what I mean. I just hope you didn't wake up your Uncle Clark! He had a hard enough time saving the world last night without you two waking him up!"

"Little late for that, Ma", chuckled Clark as he came down the stairs.

"They probably heard those two in the next county"

"Well, don't you worry about it. We've resolved this, haven't we?" Martha said with a pointed glance at the two teenagers, followed by two "Yes, Ma'am"s in perfect unison.

As soon as Clark sat down at the table, Kara zoomed into the chair next to him and began peppering him with questions about the previous night's battle. She was still a rookie in the Superhero business, but she never missed an opportunity to learn from Clark and Kon's battles.

"So, did you stop Brainiac?

"Sure did. It wasn't easy, but I managed to keep him from frying the Metropolis power grid."

"How did you beat him?"

"Well, I tricked him into posessing a Microsoft computer system. Those things have so many bugs that he could barely even think straight. Then I trapped him, removed all his weapons systems, and shipped him over to STAR labs for containment."

"That is so cool! Do you think I could help you out next time?"

"We'll see. Maybe if the villain isn't too dangerous."

As Kon wolfed down the last of his scrambled eggs, he looked at the clock and jumped out of his seat.

"Young Justice meeting at ten. I've got to book"

As Kon changed into his Superboy outfit, Kara, who had a less-than-hidden crush on Impulse, one of Kon's teammates, began her weekly effort to join Young Justice.

"So, Kon, when are you going to let me join? I really want to hang out with other heroes like us."

"When you're cool."

"I'm cool! Why don't you think I'm cool?"

"If you have to ask, then you'll never know."

"I could take you, you know! I'm full-Kryptonian. Don't make me kick your butt."

"Please, girl. The last time you tried to use your heat vision, you set the chicken coop on fire."

As the two teens squared off, Clark stepped between them in an attempt to avoid war.

"Um, Kara, I think what Kon's saying is that while he'd love for you to join Young Justice eventually, you need some more time to master your powers. Right, Kon?"

"Yeah, I guess. But it's been the three of us since the beginning, and we're kind of picky about new members-"

"You let in LOBO!" Kara cut in.

"That's not my fault! We didn't invite him! He just showed up and never left!"

As the argument continued, Cllark slumped back in his chair. Soon, Kon managed to get away and head for his meeting, and Kara dejectedly headed back to her room.

Martha shook her head "That poor girl. She tries so hard."

"I know. I just wish she would take things a little slower." said Clark. "It's only been about two months since she arrived on Earth. She's been so interested in following in my footsteps and being a superhero that I'm worried she's not taking the time to appreciate everything else. She doesn't have much patience for her training, and the last thing we want is for her to go into a battle unprepared."

"I seem to remember another young hero from Krypton who couldn't wait to use his powers and make a difference", smiled Martha.

"Yes, but that was different" retorted Clark.

"How?"

"Well, My powers were building through my childhood. I had more time to practice with them. And Supervillains weren't nearly as ruthless when I was young. That and...it wasn't my kid I was worrying about."

"No, but it was someone's." said Martha. "You know that I wanted to fight this "Superman" business tooth and nail when you started. Your father was the one who told me that if we tried to stop you, you'd just resent it. So we went along with it, and it wasn't easy, but we knew you were doing something you had to do."

"Pa's a wise man. Always was"

"He certainly is. A pity that same wise man can't remember to take out the trash before leaving to go play golf."

Clark sighed and stood up. "So, I guess I should go and talk to Kara. Might not be a bad idea to let her tag along on a fight and get in some fight-time herself."

Upstairs, Kara was reading a magazine when Clark walked in.

"You okay, Kara?"

"Yeah, I guess. I shouldn't be surprised, right? No one thinks I'm ready to be a superhero yet. Why should Kon be any different?"

"It's not that we don't think you're ready, Kara. I saw the way you fought when you trained with the amazons. You're amazing."

"Then what is it? Why won't you let me do something other than get cats out of trees and rescue people from fires? I mean, I know it's important work, but why should you do all the hard work?"

Clark couldn't help but laugh. Kara never failed to impress him with her desire to help out. "Well, I appreciate that, Kara, I really do. But I want you to realize that there are other parts of life besides what we do in costume. You don't have to do this full-time. You can take time off to spend with your friends from Smallville High, or go to parties, or even(and Clark nearly swallowed his tongue when saying this) go on dates."

"Anyone can do that. I want to do the things that only we can do" sighed Kara.

"Well, I can see when I've lost the argument" Clark smiled. "You're right. It's time I let you show me what you can do. Tell you what: Next time I fight a supervillain, I'll let you come along, as long as you promise to do what I tell you when we're fighting. Deal?"

Clark got his answer by Kara jumping on him and hugging him so hard he thought his chest would burst. But this moment was interrupted by the sound of the TV blaring downstairs, and they ran down to see a concerned-looking Martha watching the news. A special report live from Metropolis was on the screen, and Clark immediately recognized the figure onscreen: Metallo.

Superman had a lot of enemies. It came with the territory, and they ranged from the troublesome(Parasite, Bizarro) to the deadly(Doomsday, Kalibak) to the absurd(Toyman, Riot). But very few chilled Clark like Metallo. An ex-criminal killed in an accident, his brain was transported into a metal body. But that body was powered by a kryptonite heart. The only substance that could kill Kryptonians on Earth. Against Metallo, all of Superman's invulnerability meant nothing. He never knew if he would return from a battle against him. But Kara didn't know any of this. As she watched the villain on screen tearing apart a city block, all she could think was "Finally".

Smiling broadly, Kara spun into her Supergirl costume. "Come on, Uncle Clark! Let's go take this guy down!"

Clark blanched. The thought of Kara anywhere near Metallo made him nauseous. The thought of the danger he would be in was bad enough, but the thought of Kara being hurt...No. He had just found his cousin. He wouldn't lose her again.

Clark shook his head sadly. "I'm sorry, Kara. Not this time. It's too dangerous."

"But you promised! You said the next time there was a Supervillain-"

"I know what I said! And I'm sorry, but this guy is special. He could really hurt us, and I don't want you in danger!"

"So you don't think I can handle it? Is that it?

"It has nothing to do with that! But I'm not going to let you risk your life like this in your first Supervillain fight!"

Kara couldn't do anything but stare at the floor and shake her head."You promised. I thought Superman kept his promises."

Clark sighed "I know. I'm sorry it turned out this way. But next time. I promise. Now I want you to promise me that you'll stay here with Ma. I'll be back soon"

"I promise. It's not like I have much choice." Kara said dejectedly.

Clark changed into his Superman costume and flew out the door towards Metropolis. Kara just ran up to her room and slammed the door.

A few minutes later, Martha knocked on the door.

"Kara? I know you're disappointed about this, but Clark's just trying to look out for you. Why don't you come out, and I'll take you into town for Ice Cream."

There was no response, and Martha knew it was completely impossible for Kara to resist Ice Cream. Something was wrong. Martha opened the door to find an empty room, save for the window curtain flapping in the breeze.

Kara was zooming across the landscape as the Metropolis skyline came into view.

"Clark broke his promise, I can break mine" She thought to herself.

"I'm just going to help him out. What could go wrong?"

WHAM!

Superman strugggled to keep his wits about him as he slammed head-first into a brick wall. As he expected, the fight against Metallo was not going to be easy. It hadn't been three minutes before the villain exposed his Kryptonite heart and began bombarding him with the toxic rays. It was taking its toll on him quickly, and while a cut-rate villain like Metallo should not have posed much of a problem for the man of steel, the blood he was tasting in his mouth let him know that winning this fight would be a very difficult task.

"What do you got to say now, Mr. Man of Steel? Not so tough when you get a taste of my special weapon, are you?", the villain sneered as Superman struggled to pick himself up from the ground. Superman was starting to get more than a little worried now. He had been in tough spots before, but whenever Kryptonite was involved, things became a little dicey. Looking around the area, he tried to find a way- any way - to incapacitate Metallo before the rays poisoned him further. But Metallo wasn't about to let him have time to gather his thoughts. The cyborg villain, grinning evilly, walked closer, bombarding him with progressively more intense rays. Superman thought he was about to pass out, and then he saw it: A sheet of metal lying on the floor. Summoning all his remaining strength, he flew over to it, hurled it at Metallo, and used his heat vision to meld it over the villains' chest cavity. As Metallo scrambled to free his Kryptonite heart from the melted metal, Superman prepared to easily knock him out of comission.

Unfortunately, so did someone else.

Kara, flying in over Metropolis harbor, had been using her heat vision to keep tabs on the fight for some time now. It shocked her to see Superman so close to defeat. She always followed his battles in the paper, and she had always thought of her Uncle Clark as nigh-unbeatable. So without a second thought, she dived down into the street and prepared to help Clark out. "Let's see him tell me I'm not ready now" she thought.

Metallo never went down easily, that's for sure. Despite his Kryptonite heart being blocked off, the cyborg refused to go down, and he and Superman had resorted to trading blows. Normally, Superman's strength would have been more than enough to knock Metallo for a loop, but he had been weakened by the Exposure to Kryptonie. As a particularly strong uppercut from Metallo sent him reeling, he whirled around to face the villain and saw...

Nothing. Apparently, Metallo had disappeared. As Superman looked around for the answer to this disappearance, it suddenly hit him. Or rather, the pavement. Not two feet away, Metallo made impact with the street at 100 miles an hour. Before he could get up, the villain was blasted back down by a beam of heat vision aimed squarely at his back. Superman looked up to see Kara, in her Supergirl outfit, beaming proudly at him. "Looks like I got here just in time, huh, Kal?", she chirped, completely oblivious to his growing annoyance.

"Kara, what on Earth do you think you're doing here? I told you to stay home!"

"Yeah, I know. But if it was so dangerous, I figured you might need a little backup. Guess I was right. You're welcome."

"Trust me, Kara, gratitude isn't the first thing on my mind right now. We're going to have a long talk about this when we get back to-LOOK OUT!"

In the argument, Kara had turned her back on Metallo, and given the villain long enough to recover. He was lunging at her, and Kara whirled around just in time to give him a powerful blast of heat vision squarely in the chest.

Unfortunately, that's exactly what he wanted to happen.

Kara suddenly felt herself getting weak as the melted lead sheet heated up and slid off his chest exposing the Kryptonite within. Unlike Superman, she had never been exposed to Kryptonite before and had not had the opportunity to build up an immunity to it.Almost immediately, she slumped to the ground in pain as Metallo grabbed her by the neck and yanked her up. Superman, also weakened, made an attempt to attack Metallo but was quickly kicked to the side.

Sneering, Metallo looked Kara over. "So, found yourself a little sidekick, did you, Supes? She's not nearly as tough as she looks. Which isn't saying much. I think I'm going to borrow her for a little while. Hope you're not attached to her, because I play rough." With that, Kara began gasping for breath as Metallo tightened his grip. The sight of his only blood family's life in danger filled Superman with a rage and determination he had never felt before. "Damn it" he thought "After all we went through to find each other, I'm not going to lose her to anyone, let alone some third rate thug!"

Metallo barely knew what hit him as Superman summoned all his strength to speed forward, uppercutting Metallo squarely in his Metal jaw. His head popped right off, rolling to the side(But not shutting up) Superman grabbed the headless mechanical body, and bent it in two, covering the Kryptonite. Kara was released from the robot's grip, and slumped to the floor, gasping for air. Superman finally allowed himself to rest himself.

Despite the battle being over, Metallo was not in a conciliatory mood. Growling, he rolled his head forward and bit Superman's leg, ranting "You think this is over, boy scout? I'll be back! I'm always back!" But Superman was in no mood. Grabbing the head off his leg, he yelled "Do you ever shut up?" and hurled it into Metropolis harbor. "Let it roll its way up from there", he thought with a grim chuckle.

Kara had bounced back quickly from her brush with death, and was already all over Clark. "Oh, my God! That was so cool! I know, I know, I shouldn't have followed you, but it was worth it to see you up close like that. You really showed that jerk that you don't mess with Superman!"

Clark just shook his head. After all that, even with how close Kara came to death, she didn't take this seriously. She had no clue how her disobedience nearly got her killed. The thought of losing Kara nearly blinded Clark with rage, and before he knew it, he had whirled the girl around and planted a hard swat on her bottom. As she jumped with surprise, he turned her back around and shook her slightly, his eyes practically filling with tears

"KARA! Do you have any idea how dangerous this was? You could have been killed! The next time I tell you to stay somewhere for your own safety, I expect you to obey me! Is that clear?"

Kara nodded frantically, but was secretly confused. She understood Clark was upset at seeing her in danger, but she had no clue why he had just struck her bottom. What purpose did it serve? For a moment she wondered if there had been a fly on her skirt. She didn't think it was the best time to ask.

Clark had his suspicions that Kara didn't quite understand what he had done either, but he hoped that his point had gotten across. After all, it had gotten the lesson across to him often enough during his childhood. But this wasn't the time or place to teach Kara the lesson she needed to learn. Besides, he didn't think he was nearly calm enough to punish Kara. He didn't even know for sure if he could bring himself to do that, and he didn't want to do anything he'd regret. No, right now, he just wanted to go home and talk to his parents. If anyone knew how to deal with a disobedient superpowered child, it was Jonathan and Martha Kent.

Turning to Kara, he said "We're not done discussing this by a long shot. We're going home now, and when we get their you're going to go to your room and wait for me. Is that clear, young lady?". Kara, tearing up, nodded. Clark got angry very rarely, which made it all the scarier when he really did. And more than anything, Kara hated disappointing the man she looked up to so much. She tried to say something, anything to make him stop being angry at her, but the words wouldn't come, and she decided it would just be best to follow him into the sky.

Back at the Kent farm, Martha Kent had exhausted her stack of phone numbers, and no one in Smallville or in the Superhero continuity had seen Kara since she disappeared. She had called her husband Jonathan, and he had cut his bowling short to help in the search(albeit reluctantly). So it's no surprise that Martha was more than a little relieved when Clark entered the house, a chastened Kara following behind him. She immediately rushed up to the girl and hugged her.

"Don't you ever do that again, you hear me? You darn near scared the life out of me!"

"Sorry, Ma." responded Kara, albeit a bit muffled from being caught in the hug.

Clark let them hug for a minute, and then pulled Kara away and said "Upstairs. Now. I'll be up to talk to you soon." Kara sped upstairs, and Clark slumped against the wall and sighed.

"Tough day, Son?" asked Jonathan.

"Teenagers are involved, Pa. What do you think? I swear, the things that girl gets up to...Was I that much trouble when I was her age?"

"Yes." Replied his parents, in unison, without hesitation.

"Gee, thanks for the voice of confidence, guys. I just don't know what I'm going to do. She followed me to the fight and dove into it, completely unprepared. She could have gotten us both killed." Clark said, shaking his head.

"Oh, dear. I'm sorry about all this, Clark. I tried to keep an eye on her, but-"

"It's not your fault, Ma. You can't be expected to keep an eye on a kid who can move at the speed of sound. Kara made the choice to sneak out, and short of using my X-ray vision to spy on her 24/7, I can't be sure she won't do it again."

Jonathan shook his head "Now, if all parents had that attitude, we'd never get anywhere with our kids. Just because she can fly doesn't mean she can disobey with impunity. I seem to recall you had to learn that lesson once or twice yourself."

Clark chuckled wryly "More than once or twice. And I know what you're referring to. I was so angry back there after the fight that I gave Kara a swat. I never thought I would spank a kid, but the thought of losing her..."

"That's those parental instincts kicking in, Clark. It's like I always said. The butt is meant to absorb pain so the rest of body can avoid it."

"Always the philosopher, Pa. I know what I've got to do. It's not going to be easy, though."

"It never is, Clark" Martha said "It was torture for me. But the first time is the worst. If you don't think you're up to it, I could go deal with her. She did disobey me too, after all."

Clark thought for a second, but shook his head. "Thanks, Ma. But no. I don't want to put this on you. I told Kara I'd be up to talk to her, and I at least owe it to her to teach her this lesson personally."

Steeling himself, Clark walked up the stairs to Kara's room. About halfway up, he realized that he really had no clue what to do. It wasn't like he had any experience in this area. He thought back to his own childhood and tried to remember exactly what his parents had done. Jonathan and Martha Kent were nothing if not determined when it came to disciplining their son. His powers had emerged in early adolescence, and with them came a desire to test the limits, see just how much he could get away. Ealry attempts at disciplining him landed Martha at the doctor's office with a bruised hand, and Jonathan at the department store shopping for a new hairbrush and wooden spoon. The Kents weren't ones to give up easily, though. Soon afterwards, his mother had fashioned a spatula out of a small piece of metal attached to the spaceship that brought him to Earth. One of the few substances he was vulnerable to, kryptonian metal affected him just like Earth metal would affect a human. The thought of it made Clark wince even now, and he realized that he had better change the direction of his thoughts, or he was sure to chicken out.

"Oh, man" Clark thought to himself "If Lois ever finds out about this, she'll kill me." Clark's wife was definitely not the disciplinarian type, having already formed a close "big sister" relationship with Kara. Her views on parenting ran slightly to the left of T. Berry Brazelton, and she never had many kind words for more traditional parenting. "Oh, well" Clark thought "If this is what it takes to keep Kara from doing something like this again, I'm sure she'll understand if she finds out."

With that, Clark opened the door to Kara's room. The teenager was sitting on her bed, looking worried when Clark came in.

"Uncle Clark? I'm really sorry I scared you like that. I just wanted to help you fight that guy. Besides, you did need help, didn't you?"

Clark sighed "That's not the point, Kara. I might have needed help, but I told you to stay behind for a reason. I knew I might be in danger, and I would rather you not be at risk too. If I have to worry about keeping you safe too, I'm not going to be as effective as I can be!"

"I can take care of myself!" Kara replied indignantly "I'm not a child, you know!"

"No, you're not a child, Kara. You're a young woman, and you're going to be an adult in a few years. Which means you're old enough to make the right decisions, and to take the consequences for those decisions. Part of being a superhero is taking responsibility for your actions."

Kara looked down at the floor. He was right and she knew it. Deep down, she knew she shouldn't have followed him. Maybe it would be best to stop arguing, and convince Clark she had learned her lesson.

"You're right, Uncle Clark. I just wanted to help out. But I should have listened to you."

"I'm glad to hear that, Kara. But you could have been killed today! I've got to make sure you remember never to do that again."

Kara, getting a little worried, quickly said "Oh, I won't. I swear on my CD collection."

Clark stifled a giggle. "Sorry, Kara. That's not good enough. I asked you to do something for your own safety, and you disobeyed me. I've got to punish you."

"How?"

"Well, I got into a lot of trouble when I was your age too. And Ma and Pa always knew how to set me straight. I'm sorry, Kara, but I think you've got a spanking coming to you."

Clark expected a flow of tears, and frantic promises to be good. Instead, Kara just looked at him quizzically for a second.

"Spanking? What is that? Is it an object of some kind?"

Clark hadn't been prepared for that. He had no memories of Krypon himself, while Kara had grown up there(She had been in suspended animation at 14 ever since Krypton was destroyed, and only crashed on Earth after a much longer voyage than his). Apparently Krypton had no physical punishment. This was going to be a shock for Kara, he knew that. But, he thought, she has to find out sometimes. Clark gently took Kara by the arm and guided her over. Pulling her over his lap, he said "You're about to find out.This isn't going to be fun, kid, but try to remember, I'm not enjoying this either. I'm doing this because I love you.

With that, Clark flipped up the skirt of Kara's costume. He wanted to be able to see what he was doing, but he wanted to leave her a little modesty, so he decided against taking down her underwear. He would only be using his hand, as super-strength cancels out invincibility.

Before Kara could question this strange turn of events, Clark brought his hand down hard on her bottom and she yelped with surprise.

"Ow! Clark! Stop it! That hurts!"

"I know it does, Kara. It's a punishment. Can you tell me why you're being punished?"

SMACK SMACK SMACK

"Owwwww! I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I disobeyed you!"

SMACK SMACK SMACK

"What else, Kara?"

"I was reckless! I put myself in danger! I'm sorry! Please stop!"

SMACK SMACK SMACK

"That's good. Now, I want you to promise me that next time I tell you to do something, you'll do it! I SMACK never SMACK want to see you put yourself in danger like that again! Do SMACK I SMACK make myself SMACK clear? " SMACK SMACK SMACK

"Yes! Yes! I promise!" Kara yelled, now choking with tears. Clark delivered three more swats to her now very red bottom and laid her down on the bed as Kara sobbed into her pillow.

He reached over to stroke her hair and said "I'm sorry I had to do that, Kara, but-" When she suddenly turned to face him and glared at him through tear-streaked eyes.

"Why? Why would you hurt me like that? I thought you cared about me?" She sobbed, not letting her angry gaze off him.

"I do, Kara. That's why I had to spank you. I would rather you be in pain and be angry at me now than you get seriously hurt down the line."

"People who love each other don't hurt each other, Uncle Clark!" sobbed Kara. "At least they never did on Krypton! How could you do that to me?"

With difficulty, Clark thought to himself sadly, but instead he said "You'll understand someday, Kara. I'll leave you alone now, but I'll be back to talk to you later. And I want you to know I'm not angry at you anymore."

"Fine" Kara said with a combination of indignation and sadness. "Right now I just want to be alone.". With that, Kara buried her face in her pillow again and began crying, trying in vain to rub some of the pain out of her throbbing bottom. Clark sadly turned and left the room.

Slumping agains the wall as he heard Kara continue to cry, Clark could only think to himself "That went "well". I hope this parenting this gets easier as we go along, because I don't think I exactly aced that test."

Downstairs, Jonathan and Martha could hear the quiet crying from upstairs. And they could see their son slumped agains the wall, recovering from what obviously was a very stressful experience for him as well. They knew they had two very upset kids in the house. Which meant they had some work to do.

CRACK! CRACK!

Karate-chopping another large log in the farmhouse shed, Clark threw the small pieces of wood to the side. Breaking things to relieve stress usually worked for him, but this time, it just didn't seem to be helping. No matter how loud the sound of shattering wood reverberating through the shed, it couldn't seem to drown out the sound of Kara's cries as Clark had spanked her. "It was for her own good" he told himself again "Once she calms down, she'll understand why I did it.". But this was cold comfort, as he couldn't shake the feeling that the teenage girl who had changed his life in so many ways might never fully forgive him.

"I think we've got enough firewood, Son".

Clark whirled around to see his father staring up at the pile of shattered logs. It reached nearly up to the ceiling.

"Huh. Guess I got a little carried away, Pa."

Jonathan Kent stifled a chuckle "Well, Kon's going to love you. Chopping wood is supposed to be his job. Now why don't you stop working and come inside? After all, you're one of "the initiated" now. We should talk, man to man."

Clark followed his father into the farmhouse, and Jonathan pulled out a flask of 50 year-old scotch, pouring two glasses. Clark took one and stared in awe.

"You've never offered me Scotch from your private collection, Pa. Thanks."

"Yeah, well, that scotch is something every father needs after a hard day. I think you qualify now. You may not be able to get drunk, but there's no one alive who can't benefit from a fine scotch every once in a while."

"Wait a second." Clark said, staring at the bottle "I remember this scotch. I saw you drinking some the last time after you..."

"Yep. The ferret incident. You were a handful as a boy, that's for sure. The things you and that Pete Ross got up to..."

"I was 17. I remember you calmly sitting there drinking no more than 15 minutes after you took the strap to me. I was so angry that you would just be drinking like nothing had happened, and I vowed right then that I would never spank my own kids." Clark laughed as he took a sip. "So much for that, huh?"

"One of the things that NO kid will ever grasp, son , is that the spanking is just as hard for the parent as it is for the kid. I always needed that drink to calm my nerves, it upset me so much. I didn't get it either, until I was a father myself."

"I get it now, Pa. That's for sure. Man, I must have really put you and Ma through hell back then, huh?"

"Not any more than any other teenager. You were a good kid, you just needed a little...correction every once in a while. Sure, your powers made things tricky, but we could always tell you were a decent person. And so are your kids. Both of them"

"Thanks, Pa."

"That doesn't mean they're perfect, though." Jonathan said, pointing a finger at Clark. My guess is, you're going to have to do what you did today again. And it's not going to get much easier. But if you want to get through it better than you did today, here's the first thing you've got to remember: You're right."

"I'm right?"

"Yep. It's natural for a parent to second-guess themselves after they spank their kid. No one likes to see their child in pain, and it's even worse when we're the one responsible. It's really hard to keep in mind just why we did it, but we have to. It gives us the strength to do it when we have to. Mark my words, Kara might be really angry at you right now, but she won't forget what happened today. The next time she thinks about doing something reckless, she'll flash back to it, and it just might keep her from making the same mistake twice."

"I don't know, Pa." Clark shook his head."She didn't even seem to understand what I was doing. It's really hard with Kara, because she's so new to Earth. I assumed the spanking would be self explanatory, but I guess I was wrong."

"Well, you can straighten that out later when she's calmed down. And she WILL calm down, son. Don't worry. Once no one's angry, you can explain to her why you did that, and I'm guessing you'll get through to her."

"Thanks, Pa. So, I'm guessing Ma didn't have much luck talking to Kara?"

"The girl's not letting anyone in to talk. Just give it time. She'll come around."

Suddenly, the front door burst open with a gust of wind and Kon-El flew in, still in his Superboy outfit, talking a mile a minute.

"Hey, Pa, Uncle Clark. You've got to hear this story! We were at the Young Justice meeting, and I told Bart that if he ran in circles around Tim for ten minutes, they'd both travel back in time. And the little spaz actually believed me! I told him it would only work with two people, and it drove Tim crazy. Priceless stuff". Kon looked around at the serious faces of the two men. "Whoa. Not in the mood for Young Justice slapstick theater. Did something happen?"

"It's nothing serious, Kon", Clark said. "Kara snuck out after I left to fight Metallo and followed me to the fight. She could have gotten herself killed and it was a really close call. But she's okay. Don't worry. I punished her when we got home, and she's sort of mad at me now."

"You punished her? What does that mean? Did you ground her or something?"

"I spanked her. "

With that, the soda Kon was drinking made an impromptu geyser straight across the room.

"Sorry." Kon said, laughing uneasily "I thought you just said you spanked Kara. I mean, I didn't hear that, did I?"

"Believe me, Kon, I was surprised too. But she did something very dangerous, and I thought it was necessary to get the point across."

Kon shook his head "I didn't figure you for the type, Uncle Clark. I mean, I assumed you got it as a kid, but I thought they retired that along with the one-room schoolhouse"

"I don't think Pa's strap was ever fully retired. I think it's just been hibernating. Right, Pa?"

Jonathan stifled a chuckle "That's one way of putting it, Son. I hope to never use it again, but it's always there as an option. Some things never go out of date, and discipline is one of them."

Kon rolled his eyes "Oookay. Good to know. Remind me to take curfew a lot more seriously from now on."

"See? Working already." Jonathan said, patting Kon on the back as he looked at his watch "Better get down to the feed store before it closes. Good luck with Kara, son. Don't worry, she'll come around."

As Jonathan left, Clark and Kon stared at each other uneasily for a second.

"This is really freaking you out, isn't it, Kon?" Clark asked. "I mean, I sort of figured you would be familiar with it by now, having lived with my folks for almost a year."

"Guess I was just lucky so far. But I'm not surprised about your folks. It makes sense they'd be really old fashioned. But you? You've always been the "zen superhero". I really can't see it."

"Well, neither could I until today, Kon. Seeing Kara in danger like that just made something snap in me. I hate that I had to spank her, but I don't regret it or think it was wrong."

"So...just so we're clear...You'd never do that to me, right?"

Clark smiled and shook his head "How did I know that was going to come up?"

"Yeah, well, I just wanted to know. Just to make sure I don't have to be facing you at all times to ensure my safety"

Kon expected Clark to laugh, but it didn't come. Instead, Clark walked over and placed his hand on the boy's shoulder.

"This can't be easy for you, can it, Kon?

"What can't be easy? I'm doing fine."

"I know. You've been doing really well since Kara and I arrived here. But I know it can't feel great that it took her to bring me back to Smallville full-time."

"Hey, it's no big. She's your family. It makes sense that you would want to be close to her. I don't have any abandoned child syndrome or anything."

"But that's where you're wrong, Kon." Clark said, shaking his head. "I didn't stay in the background because you're less important to me than Kara. I tried to give you your space. I figured it might be easier for Superboy to develop as a person away from Superman. It took Kara's arrival for me to realize that I needed to be around ALL my family. And I'm glad you've been giving me the chance to make up for my absence in the past."

"Hey, no problem. I'm kind of glad you didn't have me move in with you in Metropolis. Your mom's a much better cook."

"Hey! I'm a very good- Nah. You're right. I can't compete with her pies."

"So, this was a really nice clone-source material moment. I'll just take it as a "no" on my initial question and be out of your way."

Kon started to speed out of the room when Clark called out "Just a minute!". Kon stopped. "Knew I should have run when I had the chance", he thought.

Clark looked Kon in the eyes. "I hope that what went on between me and Kara today will never happen again. With either of you. But I can't rule anything out. I care about you just as much as I care about Kara, and the thought of either of you in danger sends chills down my spine. So if we were in the same situation, the odds are, I would do the same thing. So, I guess that's a yes. I would do that to you, Kon. But I hope I'll never have to."

Kon sighed "I guess I can live with that. So, think Kara would mind if I went in to talk with her? She might want to talk to someone with a healthy fear of what she just went through."

"Just be nice to her. I know how you two like to bait each other, and I doubt she's in the mood. If any walls get broken, you're both working off the repair bill."

Kon sped upstairs and knocked on Kara's door, and Clark went over to the phone. He did feel better about the day's events, but there was one person he wanted to talk to. If there was anyone who had experience with this, it was this man.

Kon knocked on the door to Kara's room.

"Go away, Uncle Clark!"

"It's not Clark. It's Kon."

"Oh. Go away, Kon."

"Sure I can't come in? I wanted to talk."

"Oh, sure." Kara said derisively "You probably just want to make fun of me. You've probably E-mailed all your friends at Young Justice and told them how your stupid little sister got herself spanked."

"Okay, okay, I probably had that coming. I guess I can be a jerk sometimes. But I'd never do that. You know WAY too many embarassing things about me to risk it."

"So Impulse doesn't know?" Kara asked hopefully.

"No, not yet. Of course, if you WANT me to tell him..."

"NO!"

"Deal. But only if you open the door and let me come in."

Inside her room, Kara got up off her bed and attemted to rub some of the sting out of her bottom. If Kon was going to see her, she thought, at least she didn't want to completely embarass herself by giving away just how much pain she was in. Her mind was still going over the sequence of events that had led to this. She understood that Clark was very upset that she had disobeyed him, and that he had been worried about her getting hurt. But what she couldn't understand was why he had then inflicted pain on her. Wasn't his entire reason for being upset that he didn't want her to get hurt? This planet confused her to no end sometimes. Shoving her stuffed Gopher under the bed(no need for Kon to see that), she opened the door. Kon sped in and looked around.

"Enough pink in here, wouldn't you say? No wonder you let me in here so rarely. You're embarassed."

"You said you weren't going to be a jerk!" Kara said accusingly.

"What can I say? It's in my blood. Now that I got that out of the way, I'm cool. So...how're you doing?"

"How do you think I'm doing?" Kara blurted out, halfway to tears "I just wanted to show Clark that I could be a hero like him, and instead I nearly got myself killed, he'll probably never trust me again, and as if that wasn't enough, I'm probably not going to survive sitting through dinner!"

With that, Kara threw herself back on her bed and clutched the pillow quietly. Kon just scratched his head. He wasn't good with the emotional stuff(probably why he could never keep a girlfriend more than two weeks), but he didn't want to leave Kara like this. Much as they annoyed each other, he really hated to see the girl suffering. It was a "nobody makes my sister cry but me" thing, he supposed. Kneeling next to the bed, he thought of the right thing to say, and then it came to him.

"So, spanking sucks pretty bad, doesn't it?"

Kara snapped to attention and stared at him strangely.

"I mean, seriously!" he continued, "Who came up with that? I'd like to get them in a dark room and have a few minutes alone, if you get my drift."

Kara stifled a laugh "Just be glad you didn't have to be the one who experienced it first hand."

"That's what you think! Back when I was living in Project Cadmus with Dubbilex, he used to aim telepathic shots at my butt when he was too far away to whack me! And now Clark says that he can't promise he'll never do it to me. I swear, all teenagers should just walk around with protective covers on their butts."

"So...this is normal?" Kara asked quizzically "I can't believe it would catch on like this!"

"Yeah, it's pretty much the same thing all over the world. Parents spank kids, kids try to get out of it, it never works. I think it's some ingrained instinct from the stone ages."

"This planet confuses me sometimes. What is it that parents seek to acheive with this "spanking"? Don't they want to keep their children safe from pain?" Kara said. She was obviously in a better mood already, and seemed determined to pump Kon for any information she could get.

"I think they think that they'll reinforce whatever lesson they want to teach by creating a powerful negative reinforcer for the kid to remember. And much as I hate to say it, it works."

"Well, I'm sure not going to disobey Clark anytime soon. It's just not worth it." Kara pouted, rubbing her bottom again.

"Of course, some parents are a lot more willing to use it than others" Kon said, smirking. "You pick things up at Young Justice meetings. I could tell you some stories about Batman and Robin that would make you hide under the bed the second you saw old pointy ears."

"Tell me!"

"Maybe another time. Tim swore me to secrecy, and I'm not willing to chance it with the ward of the World's greatest detective."

Before Kon left the room, Kara turned to him "So, do you think Clark forgives me yet?"

Kon almost laughed "Kara, he's worried about YOU not forgiving HIM. I swear, all you Kryptonians are way too touchy-feely. Just go and talk to each other. You'll both feel better, and everyone can start paying attention to me again!".

Kon left the room smiling. Much as she could be annoying, Kara wasn't all that bad for a little sister. In fact, she could actually be fun to be around once in a while. Maybe it wouldn't hurt to get on her good side a little, do something nice for her. He had an idea that was sure to be a huge hit, or an unmitigated disaster. Either way, it would be fun to watch.

"Stop whining and act like a man."

Clark winced away from the phone. Bruce Wayne was a lot of things, but diplomatic wasn't one of them.

"That's your advice, Bruce? If I wanted advice like that, I would have called a talk radio show!"

"Sorry, but you know I don't mince words, Clark. I know you're new at this, but I've been around the parent-block too many times to count. I know what I'm talking about."

Clark laughed sarcastically "So, I'm guessing the perfect, all-knowing Batman never had any problem disciplining his kids? I'm sure your awesome presence just made them accept your judgement with no problems, and of course you're NEVER plagued with self-doubt! Not Bruce Wayne!"

Bruce sighed "Hardly. The reason I'm giving you this advice is because I went through the exact same thing the first time with Dick. He had disobeyed an order of mine and tried to chase a dangerous criminal on his own. I didn't have any other choice, but it didn't make it any easier. He wouldn't speak to me for days. Poor Alfred was getting really tired of relaying messages at dinnertime. and the longer it went on, the more sure I got that I had done something wrong. It wasn't the last time I spanked him, though, and it got easier for both of us after a while. It's never easy the first time, and I found that out with Jason, Tim, Barbara, and Cassie. But you gain more self-confidence after a while, and you don't allow the child's anger to cause you to doubt yourself. It's very clear from our talk earlier that you know what you did was right."

"Of course. I couldn't let Kara think risking her life like that was okay. She needed to know that actions have consequences." Clark said.

"And yet here you are, calling me, completely insecure. Your emotions are getting to you, and if there's one thing I've been told I'm good at, it's blocking out my emotions. My advice: suck it up, put aside your guilt, and go talk to your kid. Once in a while, they surprise you." And then Bruce did something he rarely did : he laughed to himself.

Clark knew this was odd "What's funny?"

"Well, I always knew you'd find yourself in this position sooner or later. It comes with the territory of raising kids. But I always assumed it would be Kon who got you here first. Lord knows that boy's pushed for it enough times."

Clark laughed "You just never forgave him for putting the moves on Batgirl."

"True. Anyway, patrol's calling. I hope I've been of some help."

"In your own strange way, you have." Clark said as he hung up the phone.

Clark slumped back in the easy chair and was about to turn on the TV when he heard a soft voice behind him.

"Uncle Clark?"

Clark stood up to see Kara had entered the room. She looked more than a little nervous and was staring at the floor. He walked over and gently lifted her head up, smiling at her.

"I'm glad to see you came out of your room, Kara. Are you feeling better?"

"I guess. "

"Well, are you ready to talk? Because I'd really like to." Clark asked.

"Okay. I'm sorry I scared you today."

"Well, so am I. I didn't really think if you would understand what was happening when I spanked you. I'm so used to my own experience of growing up here on Earth that it's easy for me to forget just how hard it must be for you sometimes. I must have really scared you."

"Yes, you did" Kara said softly "But I think I understand it now. Kon tried to explain it to me. You hurt me so I would be safer next time, so I wouldn't get hurt much worse, right? It's a strange concept to me, but I think I get it."

Clark smiled. "That's exactly right. I hate the thought of hurting you in any way, Kara. But you're extremely important to me, and the thoguht of anything bad happening to you scares me to death. I'll do whatever I have to do to help you learn to be safe. No matter how hard it is for either of us. And believe me, punishing you today hurt me just as much as it hurt you."

"I sort of doubt that." Kara sighed as she rubbed her bottom. "I know I really let you down today. I shouldn't have followed you. But do you think you could let me have another shot at this hero thing? I know I haven't earned it, but I really want to prove myself."

"Of course I'll give you another shot, Kara. You were punished for disobeying me today. As far as I'm concerned, the slate's been wiped clean. But ever since you arrived on Earth, you've been begging me to let you be a hero. I know it might look like fun, but I don't think that's it. Why is this so important to you?"

Kara looked stunned for a second, then looked at the floor again "It's nothing. It's stupid." she said quickly.

Clark met Kara's eyes and said, slightly forcefully "NOTHING that you tell me is stupid. If you're worried about something, I want you to share it with me."

"Well..." Kara said hesitantly "Ever since I came to Earth, I've been watching all the other heroes. You, Kon, the Justice League, Young Justice. They're all amazing. And you're probably the best of them all. But you gave it all up to live here in Smallville. But I know you can't stay here forever. Lois is going to come back someday, and you're going to want to go back to Metropolis. I want to be ready when you leave, so I can come with you and be a hero too. That way, I won't drag you down. I love your parents, but you're my only connection to Krypton. I don't want to lose that. I don't want to be alone again..."

Kara started crying softly as Clark moved in and held her. Gathering the teenage girl on his lap as she cried, he softly stroked her hair until she calmed down.

Whispering, Clark attempted to comfort Kara, expressing the feelings that neither of them had fully expressed since the girl's arrival.

"Kara, that's never going to happen. I love ALL my family, but you're extremely special to me. All my life, I dreamed of finding another survivor of Krypton. Having you here on Earth with me was like a dream come true, and I can't imagine my life anymore without you being a huge part of it. And I'm not going anywhere. Being here in Smallville with you, Kon, and my parents...this is the life I always wanted. The costume is just that- a costume. I can do a lot of good as Superman, but Clark Kent is a husband, a son, and a father. Those are the most important roles I'll ever play. And it's not Supergirl who I was thrilled beyond belief to have in my life. It was my cousin Kara Zor-El. We can't know exactly what's going to happen in the future. I'm hoping that maybe Lois will agree to join us all here, and I can have my whole family together in one place. But if not, we'll work it out. But I promise you that I'm not going to leave you and Kon. You're two amazing kids. And I think that both of you will grow up to be amazing superheroes, if that's what you choose to do with your life. And I can't think of a better way to spend the next part of my life than helping you along the way."

Kara threw herself at Clark, hugging him so hard he thought his ribs would burst. As both Kryptonians held each other and let more than a few joyful tears escape their eyes, Kara said quietly "So...this spanking thing. Is it a regular occurance on planet Earth?"

"Well, that's really up to you, Kara. We're going to have a talk about the ground rules when you fight crime as Supergirl, and I'm going to take them VERY seriously. If you're going to do this, it's going to be as safe as possible." Clark said.

"I can live with that. " Kara said "But if spanking me really hurts you as much as it hurts me, then don't force yourself. I'd really hate to see you hurt yourself."

Clark tried to make a stern expression, but couldn't pull it off. Laughing, he tousled Kara's hair as the now-cheerful girl sped away giggling.

The next morning, Kara stirred as her alarm clock went off. She had slept fitfully the night before(she didn't find her stomach the most comfortable sleeping position.), but she was feeling better this morning. Most of the burning pain in her bottom had subsided, although she still felt a little stiff and didn't think sitting through breakfast was going to be all that fun. For such a laid-back guy, Clark sure had a heavy hand!

Hearing a crash downstairs, Kara immediately sped out the door in her "Hello Kitty" pajamas to see what all the noise was. The source became clear soon, as she saw that Clark, Kon, Jonathan, and Martha were all joined by a guest for breakfast that morning.

"IMPULSE!"

The tousle-haired speedster looked up from the mass amounts of pancakes he was shoveling into his amount to say "Hey! You're Kara, right? Kon told me about you!"

Kon, smirking, winked at Kara and said "Figured I'd invite a friend over for Breakfast. Max Mercury was glad to have a few hours of quiet. Any reason you're standing there with your mouth open?"

Kara looked from Impulse, to Kon, to Clark's bemused face(which also appeared slightly worried that Bart would start juggling fine china any second now), looked down at her clothing, and muttered "Oh, God." Darting away at Super-speed, she emerged a few seconds later in her Supergirl outfit and muscled Kon over to get the chair next to Bart.

"Hi. I'm Kara." she said, blushing.

"Cool! I'm Bart! Nice costume!"

The two bantered back and forth for a few minutes, talking about everything from Young Justice, to their tastes in music, to embarassing secrets of Kon's, with Kara subtly flirting the whole time(and Bart trying).

Finally, Kon, rolling his eyes, cut in. "Okay, we get it. YOU think he's cute. YOU think she's cute. It's love in the world of fruit flies. Pass the pancakes."

Kara blushed again. Turning to Kon, she asked "So, now that you've let me meet your friends, can I join Young Justice?"

"Yeah! Can she?" Echoed an excited Bart.

As Kon, outnumbered, promised to have Kara meet Robin so she could be considered for membership, the adults of the house watched the teenagers with amusement. Martha was thinking about how much fun it would be to finally have a daughter she could school in the ways of Boys. Jonathan was mentally going over the interrogation questions he was going to ask Bart if that boy thought he and Kara would ever be going out on a date. Sure, Impulse seemed like a sweet kid, but it was a father's duty to be overprotective. And Clark just thought to himself how lucky he was. He had three generations of the Superman family in one house, everyone was getting along, and it was a new day full of adventures just waiting to happen. And who knows? Things seemed to be going smoothly today.

"Hey, Kara! Race you around Smallville! Loser has to kiss Lagoon Boy!"

"You're on!"

As the sudden burst of speed blew Kon's pancakes off his plate and into his face and Martha and Jonathan yelled "Normal speed!" after the kids, Clark thought to himself "A superdad's work is never done."

THE END.


End file.
